The Washington critic., 1887-10-14
WASHINGTON, OCTOBER IA, 1897.
FREE WHISKY.


that the reduction Of cost from $50 to
500 a barrel to $40, would largely
cheaper the article to retail consumers.
The Chicago Herdd insists that,
freed from the present Government TAX
of 90 cents II gallon and he various
special taxes. whisky would he "tlmost
literally free that j., >, or Vt leas,
3 cents would buy the sane amount as
is now sold for 10 or Is cents. II
says:
The net cost ol the product proper. In the
present condition Of the ml-Ert u estimate
as follows: rlinirg 4rifs. Is cents "A
gallon; sour masl or sweet mash buurIons
20 cents gallon; r,c wn,.-iu s. cents :
gallon. Thus, from tire" fpl.'u1 10 for
tiiths of what is pail hy tur unu.u nrr for his
drink, Is in the nature of rrhl q ru the dow.
ernmont. OF the rcmuuin. -iuurthu part
Is for local license. % prr. tor the hartcAdrr's q
profit, and thr small remaining bitncc tor
the drink itself II Be- pays 10 SCENTS for ID
glass of whisky, say = G nt- IL ln the form or
tax and cents for the dri i itself
Judge Kelley OF PrnnsN lvAnin, on
the other hand. while admitting thai
the burden imposed by the tax IN the
average drink Of whisky cannot be pre-
cisely asCertained, Is satisfied from
"pa,i ent inquiry" that If it were sus.
ceptible of demonstration, the tax woul
be found TO be only from one.half to
seven. .tenths of cent per drink.
He says further-we quote from his
recent article In the Forum:
In endeavoring to determine tho average
tax per drink. II must be borne In mind that
half gill is In excess of the quantity tax en- In
an average bar room drink; that the taxable
gallon Is of proof spirit, and therefore con-
tains o. half gills of proof spirit; that the
liquor sold at retail is all diluted to point
below proof, and that, as the tax offers re
wnrd of 500 per cent on such unwholesome
Iractces, much OF 1t Is adulterated with in-
gradients so pernicious as to make whisky dis
titled from grain or fruit compare lively
harmless beverage.
Again:
Is It not supremely absurd to expect that
the addition OF a fraction Of cent TO the cost
Of each drink will operate as restraint upon
drunkard's appetite, or that one who, by
indulgence In the habit of moderate drinking,
is unconsciously cultivating such an appetite,
Will be driven to modify his social habits by
so inappreciable a penalty
If we correctly understand the drift
OF the Judges reasoning, 1t is to the
effect that because the tax on each
drink Is less than II cent, therefore the
abolition of the tax would only reduce
the price Of u drink from, say, fifteen
TO fourteen cents, or therehb,uts; that
the tax, In short, cuts 50 small figure
In the matter that WHISKY, insleai of
becoming "free" win tir ninety cents
of, would be sold over tue bar ut ABOUT
the same price us at present
1t Is true that the more drinks retail
dealer can get out uf a gallon, the less
appreclable becomes The lax; but We
cannot help thinking luat ii there were
no tax at all Un the WHISKY its price per
gallon would BE- 50 diminished that IL
could be dealt out b, tue glass ut one.
NTH OF the present price aud still leave
the seller large margin pt proat.
He now sells G4 hall gil. at 10 cents
for each half gill, surprising his whisky
TO be uudiluted. He really sells of the
diluted stuff about lOi drinks. BY
what special pleading can it he made
TO appear that when the same quantity
costs him only % GEMS, he cannot
afford to sell it correspondlngly
cheaper?
1t Is supremely absurd of course tc
expect that man who wants a drink
will hesitate to take 1t because of tax
of half cent, but 1t Is not absurd tC
expect that the man who is bibulOusly
disposed will be strongly tempted to
drink much oftener when prices fall to
five or three cents than he does at If.
teen cents. while II you double the tax
and raise the price of drinks to twenty.
five cents, there would undoubtedly be
afalling off In the consumption. There
Is something fallacious in Judge Kel.
ley's logic.
The fact that the retailer could sell,
as the tax now stands, at six or eight
cents, and still make big profit, does
not enter the calculation. An inordi.
nate tax per gallon has fixed an inorii-
nate price per glass. Take off the tax.
and as our Chicago contemporary sug-
gests, prices will come down and
whisky become virtually free, with
drinkers many times multiplied.
THE consolidation Of the Western
Union and the Baltimore and Ohic
Telegraph systems II SO suggestive OF
a gigantic monopoly That The question
of the control of all telegraph lines BY
the Government will doubtless h,
pressed with renewed vig.r aI the an
preaching session Of Congress Tn
Washington correspondent gi the Me-
York Framing Post says
II is urged that there Will hc mIre neno',lt
for Government regulation oi the TELEGRAPH
now that practically az rurp"' ifiIu isr rqi Z
than there was before, and Ihal justice an
equality In the rate Il tran,tnl,,iJu o
messages are as important fu the people d
the provisions in the Interstate Cumnere
bill which regulate the r.lr5 ds uf th
country.
THE WOrld this morning says thp
the State Department "shouli rec ON
mend to the President mau pf 1bi ny
health and good habits flr the in
portant Mexican mission" Such
man is specially needed In that posi-
fIon, not person of merely ornamenta
attainments, who will regard the trus
as a sinecure, but thorough man Oi
affairs, who appreciates the nature o.
the relations existing between th'
United States and Mexico aud possesse
the business sagacity to promote them
THE Chicago and Atlantic Railway
Surgeons Society held its semi annual
session at Chicago Monday evening,